his arms about her and kissing her.
But until then, he was waiting for her answer. “Don’t rightly know iffen I’d be able to. Food was mighty scarce back home. Always made sure my brothers and Pa had enough to eat first. Then I ate what was left. Which was never much. So, I’m used to not eatin’ much. Even with you sayin’ we have plenty, I still can’t help but be scared that iffen I do eat too much more we might not have enough come winter time.”
His eyes trailed over her face, her arms and her body. Well, what he could see of it with her sitting in a chair. Still, his studying her like that made her uncomfortable.
His attention ended on her eyes, and if she weren’t mistaken, pity filled his. And she didn’t like it. Not one little bit. She didn’t want him feeling sorry for her and she’d let him know that. But before she had a chance to tell him so, he hitched his chair back and headed to the pantry.
When he came back he had a copper container with him, sat the thing down in front of her and raised the lid. He reached inside the jar and pulled out a handful of cookies and laid them on her plate and his.
He filled their coffee cups, something she should have thought to do, and then sat down. “Eat,” he ordered with a smile. His face turned serious as he looked at her. “I don’t want you ever worrying about food again, okay, Selina? We have ten dairy cows, a large herd of cattle and hogs, and plenty of chickens and eggs. We grow our own wheat so flour isn’t a shortage, either. Plus, Mother, my sisters, and sisters-in-law all grow large gardens every year. And if something happens to any of the food or gardens, we can go to town and buy some. If worse comes to worst, we’ll have it shipped in by train if necessary. Money is not an object.”
Selina didn’t know what to think. She’d never had such a mess of food before. She glanced at her plate and stared at the sandwiched cookies with the preserves in the middle. They looked mighty good and mighty tempting, too. Putting her fears aside, she decided that for once in her life her belly would take its fill.
Michael took a bite of one of his mother’s syltkakor cookies. He thought about Selina not having enough to eat and how she had given her food to her brothers and her father first and then to some stranger on the train. A woman she’d just met. The very idea of that stirred something deep inside him. He wanted to provide for her and protect her from ever going hungry again.
As she continued to enjoy her cookie Michael used the opportunity to study her. Dark-brown eyelashes, long and full, almost touched the top of her high cheekbones. Her nose had a slight bump in the middle, and her lips were pink, with a few cookie crumbs sprinkled on them.
He reached over to wipe them off. The moment his thumb made contact with her lips, her eyes flew open and she jumped back. “What ya doin’?”
“You had crumbs on your lips.” He flashed her a sheepish smile. “I was just wiping them off for you.”
She swiped her mouth with her hands and then with her sleeve. With one eye slit, she tilted to the side. “Much obliged, I’m sure.” She sat as far back into her kitchen chair as possible as if to get away from him. “What kind a cookies are them anyways? They sure are good.”
“They’re syltkakors.”
“Silt a whats?”
“Swedish sandwich cookies.”
“Oh.” That was all she said before taking another bite.
Watching her enjoy every morsel made him realize just how much he had taken for granted. He had always had plenty to eat, a roof over his head and an abundance of clothes. Never had he lacked for anything. But Selina had. And yet she didn’t seem bitter, nor did she complain about her lack. He wondered just how many times in her life she had gone without so another would not. Knowing how poor she was, he was surprised by her generosity. And if he was willing to admit it even to himself, that generosity endeared her to him. Just how he felt about that, he wasn’t sure. But he was sure about one thing. He would definitely find out. That thought both frightened and intrigued him.
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